


No More Heroes: A Desperate (and Romantic) Struggle

by gravvietrain



Category: No More Heroes (Video Games)
Genre: 2nd Person, Angst, At least you get drunk, Blood, Bloodlust, Canon Character - Freeform, F/M, Female Reader, I haven't decided what I want with Sylvia so I tagged her in case, Killing, NSFW, Original Characters - Freeform, Sex, Shameless Smut, Travis Has Floofy Hair, Travis Touchdown - Freeform, Travis Touchdown Finally Gets Laid, and her voice, angst is inbound, beam katana is like lightsaber, but also coffee, disregard canon, diverge of canon, diverges canon, fuck sylvia christel, graphic kinda sorta?, i hate her, ignoring of canon, main character x female reader, sylvia christel - Freeform, that's why it's reader x travis, there is death involved, travis is a dimensional character, travis is one killing machine, travis touchdown is bisexual
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-01
Updated: 2020-05-07
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:21:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23426896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gravvietrain/pseuds/gravvietrain
Summary: Travis Touchdown was quite the individual. Sure, he was sorta old, and knew more than you (most of the time), but you didn't seem to mind. No, no, you adored him. Being that he was the number one assassin, he was always in the public's eye; always in danger. Despite this, you still attempted to pursue him. Every lead you had turned into dust. Every lead except the Death-Match Bar. You'd turn up every couple of nights, drink a few beers, chat with the kind bartender and linger alone... Well, that was usually the case, but not tonight.Be aware that this is a female reader X Travis Touchdown. It's funny in some places and it hits the right spots. For reference, this takes place after No More Heroes and Desperate Struggle, but it's before Travis Strikes Again. Travis is 32 in this fic.
Relationships: Travis Touchdown/Female Reader
Kudos: 21





	1. The Blossoming of a Relationship.

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this because I found a fandom that was devoid of reader x main character. Hell, Travis is a worthy man, and I believe that I wasn't the only one that needed this. Let me know if you guys want more in the comments, I haven't decided quite yet if I want to continue it as a series between yourself and Travis as you learn to wield blades and whatnot, or if I want it to be more smutty, lust-filled love. I'm not sure. Let me know if you have suggestions or if you find errors, I'm always open to improving.
> 
> Enjoy!!

Travis Touchdown was quite the individual. Sure, he was _sorta_ old, and knew more than you (most of the time), but you didn't seem to mind. No, no, you adored him. Being that he was the number one assassin, he was always in the public's eye; always in danger. Despite this, you still attempted to pursue him. Every lead you had turned into dust. Every lead except the Death-Match Bar. You'd turn up every couple of nights, drink a few beers, chat with the kind bartender and linger alone... Well, that was usually the case, but not tonight.

Tonight he was there. Your knight in red, partially tiger-striped, leather armor. You knew, because you heard his voice right before he sat down next to you.

He smelled like sweat, cut grass, and blood. That was a story you'd probably enjoy, but you'd never know unless you asked. Before you could ask, however, he looked over at you. 

Travis didn't say a word, but you knew that he was looking you up and down, and frankly, you weren't complaining. In nervousness, your first words to him were a shaky and quite high pitched "Hi" before you cleared your throat and tried again.

"Hi."

That brought him back to the real world.

"Hey." He had said back before the bartender came over and asked the famed assassin what he'd wanted. 

You drank from your beer.

"I'll have what she's having." 

Silence flowed between the two of you before Travis spoke once more.

"What're you doing in a place like this?"

You didn't quite know how to respond. Was it what you were wearing that made him question your presence? You had thrown on your favorite pair of jeans-- you know, the ones that accentuated your ass, and your favorite pullover hoodie. 

If you responded truthfully, he probably would have just left, but no, you were going to play along.

"I could ask the same of you."

He chuckled, filling your stomach with more butterflies which caused your cheeks to turn pink. His beer came and instead of letting the bartender open it for him, he popped it open with his teeth with an accompanying grunt.

"Showoff." You retorted, smirking.

"Oh, really?" Travis asked, one of his stupid thin eyebrows becoming even more curved as he raised it. "You talk a lotta shit for a girl who's name I don't even know."

So he was interested. 

You told him your name.

"Ah, Y/N. Rolls _right_ off the tongue."

"Touchdown does too."

"So you've heard of me."

That'd be putting it rather kindly. You'd really like to be rammed mercilessly by this intense man, but you kept that to yourself. You sipped your beer once more.

"I've also smelled you." You laughed gently at your joke, and Travis shrugged it off. 

"Now you know I don't smell like roses or pansies or any of that shit."

"I'm just glad you don't smell like Axe. If that were the case, I would have left by now." You paused. "What do you use, anyway?"

"Old Spice."

"Astounding." You let a small smirk form on your face as you try and tell the bartender what you want before you're suggested something by the indoor aviator wearing man. As the bartender scurried off to make what Travis had suggested, you continued the conversation.

"Old Spice would sell a _ton_ more product if they had you as a spokesperson."

"You think so?"

"I know damn well that people would probably buy a candle if it had that smug face of yours on it, so I don't think deodorant is too far off."

He chuckled.

"Would you?"

You really wanted to say, _'Why would I when the real thing is sitting right next to me?'_ but you didn't. 

"Obviously. I'd wonder if it smelled like you- sweat, grass and blood."

Travis sniffed himself. 

"I don't smell like blood."

"You smell like iron." You assured him.

"Was it a job or something?"

A beat. Your drink came. It was a clear yellowish liquid, garnished with an umbrella toothpick and a slice of pineapple placed on the rim.

"Possibly."

"What'd you do, run over some poor hamster?" You asked, clearly joking.

"No, no. I was in the middle of mowing an old lady's lawn when some dickhead pool boy came over to me and started pissing me off with his stupid pool net-changed death trap. Told him to fuck off but he didn't. He insisted on the two of us fighting. One rev of the mower's engine and he was done for."

"Damn." You said, taken a bit back. "Then that lawnmower's a lucky lady."

"And why's that?" He looked at you and you thought you'd melt on the spot.

"Oh- uh, because you got to use her?" You suggested with a shrug and a poorly hid blush.

"Let's get this out of the way." A beat, as he finished his beer.

You listened, your heart beating against your chest to escape and be held by Travis. You also sipped your drink. Ah, pineapple. It was fruity, though you knew if you had too much that it would bite back. How fitting.

"You have to be aware that I'm older than you."

"That makes up in experience, I'm sure." You look at Travis as his face became pink.

"Yeah...." He scratched the back of his head.

"Uh, well at least others think of you as a sex god." You pause, the alcohol filling you with determination. "I wouldn't know, though, I've never had sex with you."

The blush that you two shared became darker.

Travis stayed quiet, ordering another beer.

"You know, that doesn't make me less interested in you."

He looks over at you, his light blue eyes almost piercing your own with an accompanying blush.

"You don't say."

"Oh, but I do... what are you going to do with your beam katana?" You wiggled your eyebrows a bit _too_ suggestively.

"I don't know." He wiggled his eyebrows, just the same as you.

You chuckle softly.

"What'd you have in mind?" He asked.

"The couch, truthfully."

"That's not happening, Jeane likes the couch." He quickly followed that with, "Jeane is my cat."

"But don't you want a real pussy to play around with?" You ask, leaning into him, as your hot, lustful breath against his neck was giving him goosebumps.

"That's an offer I can't refuse." Travis smirked.

A couple of beers, glasses of citrus-flavored alcohol, and a couple of tequila shots later, you had followed Travis out to his big ass motorcycle.

Well- you thought it was a motorcycle, but you weren't going to ask when things were just turning up. Travis got onto the white vehicle as you followed his lead as he instructed you to hold onto him as he drove.

Even if he had smelled like mowed grass, you appreciated this time that you were able to hold him and feel his waist. His skin felt firm and you felt the need to press your body into his back as he drove, and he was most definitely not complaining.

After a few minutes, you wound up at the _**No More Heroes**_ motel as Travis cut off the motorcycle's engine.

"Right this way." He let you know as he jogged up the stairs without a sweat. You followed as he jangled his keys in the door and opened it for you. You went in first and Travis followed, shutting his front door and locking it.

His living room, _if you could even call it that,_ was covered in various Lucha libre masks and merchandise, and his shelves were lovingly decorated in scantily clad female anime statues. Travis' couch had a cat on it, slumbering in a ball of white and grey striped fur. But did you really, truly care about the anime statues? No. You were just here for the dick.

Travis crossed the room to pat the sleeping kitty on the couch. 

"Hia, pumpkin." He spoke to the cat on his knees, in a soft voice.

It sat up and mewed. You retorted, "I thought the cat's name was Jeane."

"That is her name. She's just round as a pumpkin." You let out a soft laugh as you walk over as the cat stands up, yawns, and hops off the couch as Travis stood and looked over at you.

You ask him, "Are you ready?"

And he simply replies with the biggest smirk known to man: "Anytime."

Travis travelled into his bedroom to deposit his beam katana in his bed's undercarriage as you unbuttoned your jeans to allow for easy access. You also threw off your hoodie and missed Jeane by a few mere inches. Speaking of which- Travis was now standing in his doorway fully naked (except for the outline of a condom) and fully erect. No aviators, either.

"Oh- I feel under-dressed." You pouted as you kicked off your shoes. It was a good thing you decided to wear slip-ons.

"Not for long, baby." Travis assured you before coming over to the couch and pushing you into it as he made out with you roughly, forcing you down on the couch, as one hand held your back and one hand stripped you of your shirt.

You could feel his weight on top of you and it absolutely drove you wild. You could also feel his raging boner pressing against your clothed entrance which made you wet. But, to be honest, you were already wet before Travis had entertained having sex with you.

You let out a soft moan, accompanied by a grunt as he unclasped your bra and threw it over his red chair. Travis squeezed one of your breasts and you squealed in poorly contained glee. _'Oh, this couldn't get any better,'_ you thought, attempting to overtake his mouth with your tongue, and he embraced it as he played with your nipple and he began to enter you with one of his fingers.

You didn't care. This is what you had wanted. Travis brushed his finger against your clit while another lingered inside you and you could feel a shock of electricity in your spine. Off with the panties, he decided, because those soon went off too. You had whimpered in response, and Travis paused. He pulled up from you.

"Y/N... are you sure you're ready?" He asked, looking you right into your lust-filled eyes.

You admit to him, "Yes, but please, Travis, please, just fuck me."

"Are you sure you're ready for this extra sausage pizza?" 

"Please- please-!" You whined, your vagina pulsating, begging to be filled with something, anything.

Without a warning or a stretching of your vaginal walls beforehand, Travis shoved his entire member into you, and it stretched you well. You arched your back to accommodate the new feeling and you moaned lightly. He thrust in and out and you could feel his cock throb as your pussy quivered. It felt pretty good; you were sex-deprived from a long-gone relationship, so you allowed yourself this delicacy of sex with such a man who, despite his curious eyebrows, was really great at pleasing your genitals.

"Ngh, Travis-!" You moaned, your hands holding onto his back as you clench so hard that you draw a little bit of blood. As soon as he smelled it, he went into overdrive as he pulverized your internal walls. He hadn't even cared that you'd grabbed onto him so tightly that you'd caused him harm-- his bloodlust had most definitely kicked in.

You, a sexually inexperienced woman who had forgotten what real intercourse was like had already came long before Travis did. But that wasn't a problem, you didn't want this feeling to stop as his attention was much more intoxicating than any of the liquor the two of you had consumed that night.

Up this close to Travis, you were able to experience him in his purest form. You were able to see his features in much more detail, you could see every hair on his oddly shaped eyebrows, and you could most definitely see every visible hue of blue in his eyes.

You could almost feel his cock swell and twitch with every additional thrust into your pliable walls. As you moaned uncontrollably in ecstasy, his moans and grunts were filling you up with feelings that you hadn’t felt before. Your arms, your legs, your barren chest… it all felt tingly with the thought of happiness buzzing through your mind. 

You asked yourself, ‘Is this what happiness is?’ but were interrupted by a loud grunt from Travis. 

“I-I’m gonna-” He moaned in pure bliss, letting the fattest nut he’d ever busted pool in his cock sock. He then pulled out of you slowly, making sure to not tear or rip the condom before he walked to his bathroom to dispose of it properly.

You roll over to discover that Travis’ cat, Jeane, had been watching the two of you fuck. You internally groan as Travis had returned to his mewing cat. It was as if she was asking for food and he acknowledged that as he walked over to his minifridge, still nude to your delight, and popped open a can of Friskies cat food before putting it down, patting the cat’s back, and returning to you.

You’d sat up on the couch and he’d sat beside you.

“I don’t want to be that guy, but how good was it?” His normally spiky hair, you noticed, was unkempt and threatening to fall in on itself.

“The best sex I’ve had in a while.” You admit, your face betraying you as you blush deeply.

Travis scratched the back of his neck. “I hate to be the douche your mom warned you about before you were sent off to college, but honest to god, Y/N, I want to have some benefits kinda relationship with you.” 

You liked this, despite the thought of potentially being his side piece turned you off, but hell, it couldn’t get any worse, could it?

“I’ll let you know in the morning. How does that sound?” You ask, and Travis nods.

“There’s no way in any possible position that we’d fit on that couch. C’mon- I’ll let you sleep in my bed tonight, free of charge.” You let a genuine laugh out as you follow Travis into his bedroom that was complete with a cabinet fitted to be a closet, a _Pure White Lover Bizarre Jelly_ anime poster stuck to Travis’ wall, a Santa Destroy map, a desk with a fax machine and answering machine, and to top it all off, there was his poorly hidden, questionably stained anime body pillow that was shoved under his bed.

You walked to the left side, whereas he walked to the right and retrieved two shirts from his closet; one of which he tossed to you, and the other he slipped on over his head.

You slipped your shirt on, only to find it was light yellow and had the words _‘Love Tits’_ accompanied by a set of a woman’s breasts with a bikini top on, breaking up the two words on the shirt.

Without a further thought, you slid into Travis’ bed and he slid right in beside you as you two slept, one of you snoring more so than the other.

The night came to a close as the morning began, the sun rising into the sky.

You woke up to the sweet yet bitter scent of coffee in the morning with a yawn and a stretch. Travis’ cat was on the right side of the bed, sleeping peacefully, purring in his absence.

‘So he was awake,’ you thought to yourself as you swung your legs over the side of the bed and stood, walking right into his living room. 

Travis greeted you with a lazy smile, and it was odd to see him in this light, his hair was not full of product, but instead, he had a bit of bangs and it looked soft and just a little bit fluffy. He was also in heart stamped boxers, and a black tee-shirt with bleach stains. That was a bit curious, but you dismissed the thought.

“Good morning.” He nodded your way and you nodded back.

“Good morning to you, too.” You smiled up at him. 

"I made you coffee, but then I thought you weren't the kinda girl to drink coffee, so I decided against it but then I remembered you slamming that tequila last night-” You interrupted him and held out your hand.

“Just give me the mug, I appreciate the offer, Travis.” He handed you the mug, which was a stylized mug that read, actually, you _couldn’t_ read it. It was a big square box of text. He sipped his mug of coffee.

“What’s it say?” You ask, noting how fluffy his hair was.

“What’s what say?” He responded, a little confused.

“My mug.” You looked it over again. Still, no discernable words, sentences, and or shapes.

“Oh, that gem. It’s the Bee Movie script on a mug.” He smirked once more and looked over at you to look at your reaction. You thought about it, and he saw the lightbulb go off in your mind.

“The kid’s movie with Seinfield, right?” Travis nodded.

“Yeah, the movie where the woman wanted to fuck the bee.”

Travis’s smirk widened a bit. “And I thought I was the only one that picked up on that woman’s certain interest in that fine ass bee.”

“You only say that because he was voiced by Seinfield.”

“You’re right.” He filled his cup up again.

“I think I’d like to see you again.” You told Travis before sipping on your mug of coffee. You looked over at him to see his surprised reaction.

“That’s certainly a new one.” Travis ruffled the hair on the back of his neck. “But, you weren’t too bad yourself-- just like _corn nuggets._ ”

”We had sex and you thought of me as a corn nugget?”

“No, Y/N, think about a corn nugget for a moment. You don’t know what to expect: it’s a breaded nugget of sweet corn. But when you bite into it, it’s such a beautiful taste of the sweet corn and the savory breading.”

You pause, and consider what he had said.

“So you didn’t know what to expect.”

“Exactly.” You finished your cup of coffee and you handed it to Travis. Even though he was a bit taller than you, you attempted to reach up and touch his soft hair. Travis, in return, caught your arm.

“Nuh uh-uh.” He smirked at you as his pale blue eyes sparkled.

“I can’t give all my secrets away, now can I?” Travis asked, remarkably intense and secretly, you wanted him to kiss you. It was the eyes, most definitely. They tickled you right down to your very soul.

“Yeah, well maybe I want to be spoiled.” You crossed your arms, protesting.

“It’s a privilege few are lucky to receive.”

“I can’t be lucky enough to receive anything without your number.” You reached your hand out for Travis’ phone as he left for his room, then returned with an old hot pink Motorola flip. You maneuvered through it pretty well before you added your number.

It was peculiar, though, there were two names in the phone. Jeane, which you somehow assumed was his cat, and _**Sylvia.**_

“Who’s Sylvia?” You asked, handing his phone back over.

A brief wave of panic washed over Travis’ face before he brushed it off. “Just a name.”

A red flag passed your mind. _‘An ex’,_ you thought, but then thought nothing of it further.

You offered your phone and he put his number in too before handing it back.

“I tried to freshen up your clothes with some of that pet carpet nonsense.” You had just realized your clothes were sitting across his red plush chair fairly neatly. You then took your clothes into the bathroom with yourself, and got dressed. As you walked into his living room, Travis walked into the bedroom to change into his usual wear.

He reappeared a bit later, his eyebrows were plucked in their usual matter, and his hair was just as spikey as it’d always been. The characteristic yellow aviators he never took off were now present.

“Are you ready to go back?” Travis asked you, softly.

“It depends. When do you want to see me again?”

You share a look with him and he sighs. “You text me, and I’ll be there. How’s that?” Travis suggested.

“That’ll work.” You nod before he jangled his keys.

“I’ll take you back to the bar so you can go home.”

“Oh,” you swooned overdramatically. “My hero!”

“No, Y/N. That’s not the case. In this world, there are _**No More Heroes.”**_ He had an almost cheeky grin, as if he knew something you didn’t.

Travis escorted you out to his big ass motorbike before the two of you drove back to the Death-Match bar. You stepped off his bike and he turned on it to cup your face before you backed away.

The eye contact you two shared lingered for a moment before he made the pointer finger and the pinkie finger symbol for _‘call me’,_ then, he mouthed _'call me'_ before you gave him a light smile and a wave as he got back on his bike properly and drove off to do god knows what. You, alternatively, went back home to sleep for a bit longer, but not before brainstorming where you wanted to go with Mr. Touchdown. 

You decided on the mall before taking a well-deserved nap.


	2. Salty Pretzels

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had some help with a buddy of mine that read over this chapter and offered me some integral tips on how to add to my writing within the Scott situation, and I thank you W, for that help. Again, if there's a problem with this chapter or an error, let me know by dropping a comment. Also! I made a Spotify playlist for this piece, and here's the link: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4y4ogqb64HhS9hLyPXGbTR  
> If you have ideas or suggestions and you don't want to comment, email me at gravvietrain@gmail.com  
> Let me know what you guys think! I'm going to try and update every Wednesday, however, I have classwork and I may be late a couple of times due to Corona. Otherwise, enjoy!!

You had told Travis to pick you up at one to spend time at the mall together, which, admittedly, felt a little weird on the outside, but on the inside, you really couldn’t have been happier. You’d planned your outfit for a week on end and deep down you wanted to please Travis. You didn’t know why, truthfully, but you wanted to make him happy, and that’s what you tried to do.

You had settled on some skinny jeans yet again, however, this pair was a rich black color and they had holes where the kneecaps were supposed to be. The shirt you wore was a black and white horizontally striped shirt along with your virtually indestructible boots. You lingered in your bedroom, waiting for the man of the hour. In the time you had before Travis arrived, you picked at your nails, you sighed, and most of all, you scrolled Facebook. Sure, Facebook was _ew, _but you hadn’t really gotten into Instagram fully. You’d only posted a picture of your food that one time, and that was two weeks ago, and if you were to post now, it’d be inconsistent-__

____

A loud honk shook you from your thoughts. 

____

“I’m here!” Travis announced as you looked over to your window. There he was, just as functional as ever. The heat in your cheeks returned that you had shared last week, and the excitement sent a shiver down your spine. _You were seeing him again! ___

______ _ _

You took your phone off the charger before putting it in your pocket as you ended up subsequently sprinting down the stairs and out your front door. You did not forget to lock the front door, as you did so the second you stepped outside.

______ _ _

“Y/N! It’s good to see ya!” Travis cheered as you neared his bike. He looked you over. 

______ _ _

“Those kneecaps too.” He winked and you fought back the urge to roll your eyes. 

______ _ _

“Yeah, but what about that fatass forehead you have?” You fought back, playfully.

______ _ _

“Aw, bummer.” He smirked. “Get on. We have someplace to be, don’t we?”

______ _ _

“Yeah, the mall. I’ve got this meeting with this… executioner guy.”

______ _ _

“Oh really, miss?” He played along.

______ _ _

He revved up his engine before you hopped onto the bike and you held onto his form. Even though he shared many visible characteristics with a toothpick, his body was not as fragile as one. Though Travis was not buff or meaty, as a man, he did pack strength in his abs. You took this precious chance to hold them and to hold onto him fully as he drove to Santa Destroy’s mall.

______ _ _

Once he arrived at the mall with you, Travis parked in a faraway spot so that nobody would park next to him and fuck his bike up.

______ _ _

"I'll tell you, that executioner guy sounds like a _catch. _"__

________ _ _ _ _

"Catch twenty-one or you catch twenty-two?" You asked, a bit curious as to what he'd say. 

________ _ _ _ _

"Actually, we're not a game."

________ _ _ _ _

"Definitely. You better be glad because you would be the _ass- _I mean tails." You crossed your arms with a light chuckle.__

__________ _ _ _ _ _ _

He, too, chuckled in response. 

__________ _ _ _ _ _ _

You two walked into the mall. Various sounds could be heard, all at once. Families bickering, small children crying, and Kesha's amazing single from a couple of years prior, Tik Tok.

__________ _ _ _ _ _ _

The Great American Cookie stand was present near the entrance, as was Auntie Anne's. The smell of salted and buttered pretzels was enchanting to you, as you could almost feel your stomach rumble. You skipped breakfast, but it was only because you’d slept in far past the appropriate time to make or eat breakfast, and you were not about to eat before a date. 

__________ _ _ _ _ _ _

“You wanna grab something and walk around the mall only to window shop and not decide on anything?” Travis asked you with a smirk on his face.

__________ _ _ _ _ _ _

“That sounds delightful.” You respond. “Are you going to foot the bill?”

__________ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Maybe if you’re a good gir-” He nearly choked on his words. “You see- I was going to kid about it, but then I realized people were into that, and some being of power stopped me.”

__________ _ _ _ _ _ _

“That’s some fucked up god then.” You suggested with a light shrug as the two of you walked over to the overpriced pretzel stand.

__________ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Hi, welcome to Auntie Anne’s. What can I get for ya?” asked a tan teenager with thick black eyebrows and black hair contained in a hairnet, along with his work visor and uniform. You scanned over their menu. Travis looked at you as if to ask, _‘what do you want?’. ___

____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

You looked back at the worker with a slightly awkward expression on your face. “I’ll have some pretzel bites and a small lemonade, please.” He nodded before he started to work on your order. “And for you?” He looked over at Travis beside you as he poured the lemonade. “I’ll have the pepperoni pretzel bites and a lemonade.” The worker poured another lemonade before scooping up both different types of pretzel bites, setting them on the countertop before ringing everything up to a total of around thirty dollars. 

____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

You saw Travis open up his mouth to say something smug before he opened up one of his strange, but ever-present belt pockets and handed the cashier a fifty-dollar bill as you grabbed your lemonade and your little cup of pretzels as the cashier counted back Travis’ change and shut the cash register as Travis put the change into his belt pockets and grabbed his food.

____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

You’d chosen a table near to the fountain. The rushing water created a whooshing sound that you’d appreciated as Travis sat down next to you. He popped one or two bites into his mouth as you slowly munched on yours. “So… how’s your week been?” You asked, genuinely curious about what he had done in the week before.

____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“It’s been pretty okay, I gotta say. Nobody’s been asking me about you, no _TMZ, _none of that shit.”__

______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Then that’s good for the both of us.” You said, confidently as you sipped on your lemonade.

______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

You and Travis enjoyed the silence as you decided to people-watch. Numerous children bounced along beside their parents. Many new parents rolled their children in their strollers, and hell, there were some older couples.

______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Do you think we’ll last that long?” You asked, holding onto your sweet, sweet lemonade.

______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Huh?” Travis asked, his container of pretzel bites almost halfway gone. 

______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Look at that sweet couple. Even when they’re old they’re spending time together.”

______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Why do you ask?” Travis, too, succumbed to the pressure of trying the lemonade.

______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Because it’s a trope that we’ve got to cover.”

______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“In that case, I dunno.” He shrugged before popping the last pretzel bite into his mouth and then he threw the cup into the trash can. His cup made it. 

______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

While snacking on the pretzel bites, you pulled out your phone and decided to scroll through Instagram. You chuckled a bit, and Travis asked you what exactly you were laughing at.

______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Oh, a cute puppy.” You said, showing him the video.

______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“What’s that, Insta…. Something?”

______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“It’s Instagram. Kinda like Facebook, but more picture-based.”

______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Ah…”

______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“As a public figure, Travis, I think you should have one.”

______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Yeah, but who the hell would want to follow me? _I kill people. _”__

________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“I dunno, why are there so many fan accounts with your name on them?” You bickered back.

________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“...what’s in it for you?” Travis asked, locking eyes with you. Nervously, you blushed a little.

________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“I would run your account for you.” You said, despite the fact that logically he should say no. Though, not everything needs to make sense, you figured.

________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“I like that eagerness. I guess you can be in charge of it so long as you don’t get my bad side.”

________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“You don’t have a bad side.” You argue.

________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_“No, it’s my ass.” _He blurted, almost comically.__

__________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“I see nothing wrong with it. Also, your ass does not qualify as a side.”

__________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“You’re thinking about it now though aren’t ya?”

__________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“No,” you told him as your blush betrayed you. You were indeed thinking about his grabbable ass. It was a plush ass, but it certainly was not big enough to clap as he walked. That was a pretty funny thought, though, and you giggled.

__________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“What?”

__________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Oh, nothing.” You took a couple of pretzel bites and put them in your mouth.

__________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“That glint in your eyes says otherwise, though I can’t quite read it. What do you mean by _‘nothing'? _" Travis leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms.__

____________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

"Nothing. That’s what the absence of something is.” He chuckled softly at your response.

____________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“I also suggest that you should get a Twitter handle, though I don’t know much about Twitter. I can check it for you though. You could get verified on Twitter. You could also make a Tumblr blog. I mean, being on Tumblr’s very… in, right now.” That was an understatement. 

____________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

You had a blog on Tumblr that was dedicated to your personal feelings and you posted a lot about Travis’ endeavors from various news sites, hell, even sometimes they were YouTube videos posted of him from various people recording it. Tumblr was not just ‘in’, it was the Facebook of the younger generations, except much less reserved and pervier than the comments on a new artist’s DeviantArt post. 

____________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_**An editorial note: 2012 was an odd time, as every social media platform struggled to find its footing. And yes, this is set in 2012. The timeline of canonical events were also reviewed. Desperate Struggle was released in 2010. Travis is 30 in that entry. Since he is 32, it must be 2012 by default. No, not 2011.** _

___________________**_****_ ** _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“How would _you _know?” Travis asked you as your cheeks emitted a deep blush.__

___________________**_**____ ** _ ** _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“I- I have a Tumblr that I blog on.” You responded a little bit more high-pitched than what you wanted to. You swallowed and cleared your throat before you sipped your lemonade. “I mean- it’s a blog. Nothing out of the ordinary, right?” You played with the strands of your hair that were the closest to your hand.

___________________**_**____ ** _ ** _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Is it a fan page?” Travis asked curiously, raising an eyebrow.

___________________**_**____ ** _ ** _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“I have _no _idea what you’re talking about, even though my tone might make it sound like I do, I _don’t _, Travis!” You whined, not ready to submit to him being right.____

___________________**_**_______ _ _ _ ** _ ** _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Then why are you whining like an excited chihuahua?”

___________________**_**_______ _ _ _ ** _ ** _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“I _always _sound like this!” You argue, your voice betraying you as it became a bit more high pitched.__

___________________**_**_________ _ _ _ _ _ ** _ ** _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“I’ll buy you something if you tell me what so obviously doesn’t include me, even though I’m painfully aware it does.” He crossed his arms as his smirk cut into you. You were going to have to cave in eventually.

___________________**_**_________ _ _ _ _ _ ** _ ** _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

A beat.

___________________**_**_________ _ _ _ _ _ ** _ ** _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Okay, fine.” You grumbled, caving. “The majority of my blog is devoted to you… and your achievements, whether it’s a kill or an online match… But, y’know, you’re much better in real life than on any of those dumbass top-tier _IGN _gamer lists.” You admitted, a little harshly, that red hot blush still present on your face.__

___________________**_**___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ** _ ** _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Tell me about it! I love the publicity, but I hate it when I’m covered in bitches! Said uh, nobody… _ever _.” Travis had started strong before he got quiet at the end of his sentence. He scratched the back of his neck. “It’s like what I say all the time: go low and slow!”__

___________________**_**_____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ** _ ** _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Travis, instead of instilling hope in my soul, you just crushed it by telling me the goal of limbo. Now that I think about it, that also applies to a pot roast in a slow cooker. Also- you’ve literally never said that."

___________________**_**_____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ** _ ** _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Well, it sticks.”

___________________**_**_____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ** _ ** _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“When you apply it to limbo and cooking it does.” You sighed gently before pausing to change the subject. 

___________________**_**_____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ** _ ** _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“What’d you have in mind?” You asked, eating some more of the pretzel nuggets.

___________________**_**_____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ** _ ** _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“To buy you? Oh, I didn’t think you’d budge.” You almost snorted, but you kept your composure.

___________________**_**_____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ** _ ** _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“I can’t turn away nice things, now can I?”

___________________**_**_____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ** _ ** _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“I don’t know, you haven’t gotten rid of me yet.”

___________________**_**_____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ** _ ** _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

You were about to speak to Travis before some kid yanked him up and out of his seat with a grunt. Travis quickly flipped on the kid, yelling, “Hey!” pretty angrily, shoving the kid down into the mall’s tile.

___________________**_**_____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ** _ ** _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Explain yourself,” Travis demanded, his hand on his beam katana.

___________________**_**_____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ** _ ** _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“I’m here to put an end to you, Travis Touchdown.” The kid snarled. Up close, he had ginger hair, a baggy hoodie, and equally baggy jeans,along with a purple snapback cap sitting atop his head. He was pretty aggressive and armed with a metal bat that was already decorated with someone’s blood. With a smirk, he locked eyes with Travis as you turned around. You saw the kid swing at your date as he stepped back. Your date immediately whipped out his not-lightsaber and powered it up, clashing with the metal bat.

___________________**_**_____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ** _ ** _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“What’s your name? It’s no fair if you know me and I don’t know who you are!” Travis smirked, 

___________________**_**_____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ** _ ** _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

People were running away from the stores in fright as they screamed, watching Travis and the kid brawl. The food stall workers watched on in terror. At least they had their stalls to hide behind if need be. Some people decided to record the fight from higher levels in the mall.

___________________**_**_____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ** _ ** _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Scott Snapback- and the world will know my name when I kill you, and take your place! _Ah-ha! _” he chuckled, gripping the bat with both hands before swinging. Travis’ beam katana met it and a loud, metallic sound was produced.__

___________________**_**_______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ** _ ** _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Oh yeah? That doesn’t mean shit to me, _amigo. _” Travis took an aggressive swing at Scott as he swung past his bat and singed his side with the beam katana, however, a little plastic was melted. It must have been football gear. Travis was a bit bewildered, but went on with it, as he attempted to hit Scott from the other side, but was shortly met with the metal bat and another metallic noise. Travis smirked, however as his eyes lit up.__

___________________**_**_________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ** _ ** _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Travis could smell it. Blood began to drip from Scott’s wound. Despite the fact that he could have gone into overdrive and given into the desire to plow into his enemy, he stopped to give him a standing chance.

___________________**_**_________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ** _ ** _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“You’re bleeding, kid. You might want to stop here. I don’t want you to-” He was hit with the metal bat in the face, and in return, the bat was given a dent. Travis groaned and cursed loudly before swinging his beam katana at the kid, cutting into his side, and in comical fashion, blood spurted out of the kid’s side as he yelped in terror and pain. He dropped his bat and it fell to the ground, clanging against the tile.

___________________**_**_________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ** _ ** _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Scott didn’t budge.

___________________**_**_________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ** _ ** _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Take my life. You’ve earned the right.”

___________________**_**_________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ** _ ** _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“If you so wish.” And without hesitation, Travis plowed right into Scott, tearing him in half. His torso fell to the ground with a grim, yet satisfying splat, and his legs collapsed onto the ground with a sound that was akin to dropping a heavy cat onto the ground. Travis was sprayed with his blood, but truthfully, he didn’t care that much about the sound death created, it was just a by-product of being an assassin. The thick human blood was warm, but interestingly enough, Travis seemed to bask in the glory that the blood gave him. He actually kind of looked to be excited about a new kill, the blood on his body and face serving to be a temporary trophy of what he’d done.

___________________**_**_________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ** _ ** _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Scott’s intestines started to fall out of his body as you stood and looked over at Travis, your mind in a little bit of disgust-- not at him, but at watching death first-hand, not reuploaded as part of a compilation video. It was the disconnect that the video gave you, you had assumed. It was still disgusting nonetheless. You’d have to get used to the constant presence of death, you told yourself. At least you hadn’t had the feeling to vomit, that would have dampened your mood further than seeing a live person get sliced open. Probably. That would have been a bit selfish, though.

___________________**_**_________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ** _ ** _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Shock had also enveloped your state of mind, as you’d never had such an intricate relationship with death. You’d never seen death wrap her arms around someone and pull them off into her abode right in front of your eyes. But you did just then. It made you a little more uneasy in the moment. You felt a little bit of a nervous jitter in your arms, and a bit of nausea in the pit of your stomach, but none of it was really alarming enough to mention, you felt you’d just be complaining. It was justified, however, you just saw someone die in front of your very eyes.

___________________**_**_________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ** _ ** _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

With an entrancing grin, Travis’ eyes seemed to linger on the corpse for a bit longer than what you’d expected as he wiped some cold blood off of his cheek, before looking at the blood. He then decided to rub it off on his already bloody shirt before turning to face you in silence, his smirk and excitement fading as he saw the way it made you feel, he could basically read your uneasiness from a mile away. You slowly walked over to Travis in silence as the weight of what you’d just witness weighed down on your soul.

___________________**_**_________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ** _ ** _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Travis led you outside with his arm against your back and with his hand around your waist. The two of you began to walk towards his motorbike in the parking lot. The open, chilly nature of the parking lot soon calmed you as your worries had faded away as if the wind had taken them. It had also taken the memory of the pretzel nuggers and lemonade the both of you had left away, as you both had forgotten about them.

___________________**_**_________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ** _ ** _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Look, I’m sorry that you had to see that.” Travis sighed, rubbing his forehead. “When I take a girl out, I usually-”

___________________**_**_________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ** _ ** _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“-tell them that they smell rather good, and that you wasted a considerable amount of money on them?” You tease, a small grin threatening to form on your face. Travis looked a little amazed. It seemed what was plaguing you was beginning to leave you alone, he thought.

___________________**_**_________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ** _ ** _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“How’d you know?” His eyebrows furled in confusion.

___________________**_**_________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ** _ ** _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“You called me a couple of nights after and left me a drunken voicemail. I can pull it up for you, if you like.” You smirked, teasing.

___________________**_**_________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ** _ ** _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“N-no, that would be embarrassing for the both of us,” Travis told you, his face a little pink as he was a little embarrassed himself, it seemed. 

___________________**_**_________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ** _ ** _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Aww, are you flustered because I called you out?” 

___________________**_**_________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ** _ ** _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“No. I’m flustered because, actually, _I’m not. _” He huffed, dramatically.__

___________________**_**___________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ** _ ** _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Yeah, whatever, Travis. Race you to your motorbike!” You told him before getting a headstart and a boost of adrenaline as you ran to his huge motorbike. Travis followed, just as quickly. You both fell into the sturdy bike at the same time. Fate would have it that you two were evenly matched.

___________________**_**___________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ** _ ** _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Aside from the clash, you got on Travis’ motorbike after he had gotten on it himself. Again, you found yourself behind Travis and his familiar back, and you held it strongly… as well as his chest. Surprisingly enough, he actually remembered where you had lived, and it was pretty sweet to not have to tell Travis where to turn and where to go, you just got to experience him and the sweet, sweet breeze of September.

___________________**_**___________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ** _ ** _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

The ride soon came to an end as Travis stopped in front of your house. He parked his bike and allowed you to get off of his bike first. 

___________________**_**___________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ** _ ** _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“So you live in this house?” Travis asked, scratching his jaw as he turned to sit on the side of his oversized bike.

___________________**_**___________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ** _ ** _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Yeah, it was given to me after my father passed away.” You responded softly. “We had a good relationship, though, there’s nothing to worry about, Travis. I mean, it’s not like you’re going to be terrorized by his spirit.”

___________________**_**___________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ** _ ** _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Shhhh. You’ll give him ideas.” Travis hissed as you chuckled softly.

___________________**_**___________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ** _ ** _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Yeah, yeah, well I doubt he can hear us. I mean unless you wanted him to.” You winked.

___________________**_**___________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ** _ ** _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Travis chuckled. “I hate to disappoint you, but Jeane’s fat ass ran off and I can’t seem to find her. I’ve gotta find her before she finds a raccoon and tries to eat it… I’m convinced she’s a raccoon at heart.”

___________________**_**___________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ** _ ** _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“I’ll let you know if I see her. And if you find her, let me know. I get the feeling that she’s going to be known to be quite the escape artist.” He nodded at you as you walked to your front door.

___________________**_**___________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ** _ ** _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“See ya, Y/N!” Travis called out to you as you entered your home, waving.

___________________**_**___________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ** _ ** _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

As soon as you stepped inside, you got an email on your phone, and you pulled your phone out to read it.

### Mystique welcomes you to a Halloween haunt to die for!

We welcome you to a Halloween party where drinks are half-priced, the fun is dialed up to 100, and there’s a costume contest with a cash prize!

A light smirk appeared upon your face. It seemed you were going to have to think of a couple’s costume. It couldn’t possibly be that hard, could it?


	3. Strawberry Daiquiri

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SPOILER WARNING FOR NO MORE HEROES AND NO MORE HEROES: DESPERATE STRUGGLE! I am so sorry for not updating, I keep writing and writing, but I never sit down and fully complete it. I hope the length and quality of this chapter makes up for not updating for an entire month. I also want to thank you all that are reading my fic, I can't believe that I have almost 100 people who have read it! It's insane. I love it, and I love Travis (obviously). This started as a fanfic to fill a hole, but I think that I'm going to do a lot with this. In the words of our trusty main character: _"[It] could kick ass. Could be dangerous. Could totally suck. Whaddaya say, bro? Join me."_

October was nearing its end, and truthfully, you'd miss the sight of orange pumpkins littering people's doorsteps and pumpkin spiced items. That's not to say that you were basic. You weren't, and neither was your boyfriend. Or could you truly call him that? You didn't quite know. 

What you did know is that he was a little late and you were stuck putting on your Halloween costume alone. For the moment, it was great, until you were applying a bit of lip-gloss, and the honk that Travis' bike gave you left you sputtering and caused you to let go of your gloss. It was now in the sink and you cursed to yourself as you realized you'd have to dry the tube before you could put it away.

You took your lip gloss out of the sink before you trailed the way to your front door and opened it for Travis. "C'mon in. I know you aren't dangerous… to me, at least." He nodded with a light smile, and as soon as he was inside, you shut the door.

"Are we still on?"

"I'd hope so." You smiled gently before showing Travis to your bathroom. "I'm going to go through a hell of a lot of trouble filling in your eyebrows… why do you shape them like that, anyway? You wanna cut someone with them?"

"No, it's just cool. That's why." He shrugged lightly.

"Whatever makes you happy, I guess." You shrugged, equally as lightly as you instructed him to sit on a stool before you brought over a fine dark powder and a thin brush. 

"Whatever you do, try not to move. If you move, it'll be uneven."

"I'm not going to move, I know the importance of beauty-- why wouldn't you let me do it myself while you get ready?" He asked, a little bit curious. "I can style my eyebrows but I can't fill them in myself? I'm _more than capable_ as a man."

"Fine, but if you sneeze and give yourself a monobrow… I'll probably still try to help you." You laughed a bit to yourself before you went back to plucking your eyebrows. As he filled his eyebrows in, you applied mascara to your own eyelashes. After he was done, he asked, "How do I look?" before fluttering his lashes.

"Oh, actually, those are really nice, Travis, good job." You smiled and he nodded. "I'm kinda interested in what you chose for a costume. Whatever it is, I hope you-" You had gotten up and grabbed a nearby plastic bag, immediately interrupting him. The bag wasn’t very special as it held within itself a bunch of black clothing. You then handed it to Travis. "You are _The One."_

He didn't quite understand it until moments later. 

_"The One?"_ He looked through the bag and then it hit him. You could practically see the lightbulb go off in his mind.

"Will you be Trinity?"

"Is there a trench coat in that bag?"

"...." he was digging to find if one did or did not exist in his bag. "...yes!" He yelled, excitedly as you drug your bag over. He quickly traded shirts with the bag before he looked at you. "Could I have a little... _privacy?"_

"Sure! I'll be back." You told him as you grabbed your costume.

You almost chuckled, as you walked out of your room. You had _seen_ Travis naked, and you’d _literally_ had sex with him, but sure, you shrugged. He’d been inside of you and had seen you naked, but he didn’t want to be seen. You didn’t see the larger problem at hand about him wanting to keep himself in privacy, but why would you? Travis, aside from all the obscure references and strange statues he had, curiously enough, wasn’t exactly vain, no, no. Travis just cared about his image, right? Or at least, you assured yourself of that. If he didn’t want you to see him change, then… You hoped it wasn’t something that you did absentmindedly.

Your thoughts shifted as you dumped your costume onto your bed from the plastic grocery sack. Maybe shiny, vinyl clothing was the way to go. There was only one way to find out as you put on the almost sleeveless black top, the tight and well-fitting black pants, some heeled boots, and the small, cat-eyed reminiscent sunglasses. You draped the remaining duster over your arm as you asked, "Are you all good?" when you popped your head into your room's bathroom.

"I am, but, ah, you… you too.” He looked over your body and his eyes lingered on where your breasts resided under your shiny top.

Travis was in the full costume except for the thigh holsters, the shades, and the trench coat. The sweater that he wore only half masked his apparent muscles, his questionably large pecs not being as easily camouflaged. His thighs were pretty strong, so you decided that you’d help him put on the holsters later.

You’d never realized how odd it was for such a… dare you say _‘nerd’_ , to be so fit and so strong. Not that you’d want to give in to the stereotype that nerds were fat and lazy and living in their mother’s basement. He also had a cat. Not that him having a cat made a difference, you thought, you just figured it was a little different. Travis just happened to be different. An outlier of the nerd community, in graphical terms.

“Aw, come on, don’t look at me like that.” You crossed your arms over your chest, removing Travis’ gaze.

“Like what?” He whined.

“I can see it in your eyes _Mister Anderson._ You cannot fool me.” You noted, with inflection much like Hugo Weaving’s performance of _Agent Smith._

“Dammit!” He crossed his arms, his spiky black hair sticking out like a sore thumb. 

“That reminds me! I’ll get the comb. Sit.” You walked over to the countertop before you grabbed a small comb and a bit of hair gel. Travis obediently sat on the stool.

You combed his hair back. The product only cracked a little, and it sort of stuck to itself a little. Mimicking the small peak that Neo sported was a little easier said than done. Travis had much more hair than the protagonist of _The Matrix_ , and during the trials of perfecting the small peak, you had realized it possibly would have been smarter if you’d just bought a wig and styled it yourself. But it was now Halloween and Amazon only offered two-day shipping… At least you’d know for next year.

“Hey- I’m not trying to stop you from trying, but why don’t you let me see the comb?” Travis asked softly, as to not upset you.

“Here.” You admitted defeat and handed over the comb. In the bathroom’s mirror you could see that you’d really done a number on his hair. It wasn’t quite spiky, but instead it just looked ratted and knotty.

“I know you’re trying for me, and it’s… well, it’s _something_ alright, but I can handle a quick slick back.” He brushed back all of his hair with the comb and surprisingly, it looked fine. You were a little surprised at his skill, but if he could make thin and questionable eyebrows look hot, you really shouldn’t have been surprised at his hairstyling powers.

You then slicked your hair back with a bit of gel before sticking it to the back of your neck to the best of your ability.

 _"For a girl,-"_ Travis began before you cleared your throat. 

"Okay, _okay._ I know my place. You can do hair." He said defensively.

"That's more like it." You smirked. "Now, those thigh holsters. Where'd you put them?" You asked softly before Travis handed them to you.

You undid them loosely and asked him to stand for you, since you'd have to pull them up his legs.

"Pick your left leg up." He did. You repeated with his right leg and shimmied both up to his thighs.

There was a bit of silence as you tightened the strap on his left thigh. 

"I know we're both adults, and I respect you, but I've gotta question." Travis broke the awkward silence.

"Hit me with it." You responded casually, tightening the straps on the alternative thigh.

He thought on it for a moment, and truthfully tried to conjure up a casual yet cool answer. What he came up with was just, "You wanna have sex tonight?"

You nearly snorted. Instead, you choked on non-existent spit.

 _"W-what?"_ You asked, a little in disbelief.

"Oh shit, did I offend you? I didn't-" You interrupted him as you stood and brushed yourself off.

"I'm not offended, I do appreciate you asking me. I don't know though if we party our asses off, how can you expect to not be tired by the time you get back?"

You crossed your arms and Travis only looked at you and winked with a smirk.

"You don't mean having sex in the club, do you?"

"The music will be so damn loud they won't hear a thing."

"We'll just have to see where the night goes." You assured him, a little hesitant.

"You don't have to if you feel uncomfortable- I just didn't want to put you in a weird position." He admitted slowly, a light pink blush rising on his face. 

His light blue eyes met yours and you could just feel his honesty radiating from them, which was odd, coming from a man that regularly cut people in half and who was also decently vulgar, but to you he was kind and soft. He felt comfortable enough around you to sometimes discard his aviators and roam around in your shorts when he came to visit. It was odd behavior for your partner, but regardless, at least his ass decently filled the shorts.

"Let's just get there first. This club might suck."

You slipped your coat on before Travis slid his on along with the sunglasses. You also put on your sunglasses as Travis put his beam katana on the thigh holsters.

"I have something for you, but I left it in my room, I'll have to swing by and grab it for you on the way there."

"If you say so, Travis." You assured him as he walked out of your bathroom through your room, and then walked downstairs and out of your house. “But I don’t mind waiting.”

“It can’t wait.” He looked at you before you both walked over to his bike.

He got on his bike and you followed suit, essentially hugging him as he drove off to his room at the _No More Heroes_ motel. You still didn't understand the reasoning behind Travis' awareness of the name. ‘Was it just a Travis thing?’, you thought to yourself as before he parked in his spot and you lingered on his bike.

You fiddled with your trench coat's sleeves. You didn't know what he was bringing you, and you sure as hell didn't know what to expect, either. You tapped your foot on the side of his bike gently as you stared at the motel's asphalt parking lot.

"Surprise!" He shouted, excitedly, popping up right behind you. You hadn't even heard him. "This bad girl will do so much shit. Slice bread, slice bitches, and even cut your hair. I have _no_ idea how cutting your hair with one of these works." His expression folded and he grinned at you.

"Huh?" You turned and Travis was holding Blood Berry out to you, in its compressed form.

“Look, the last time we met up, some bitch tried to kill me. There’s no doubt in my mind that you’re in danger too. She’s all yours.” He casually told you as he tossed the beam katana over.

You caught the beam katana in its smaller form and you gazed upon it, your fingers tracing over the dusty edges.

“Travis, I can’t take this from you. I appreciate the kind gesture, but this was your first real weapon, and I’m sure there’s some sort of sentimental attachment to it that I can’t break. It feels wrong.”

“That might be the case, you clever gal, but I’d much rather see you use her then let her collect dust. It’s perfect for action figures or comics, but not for weapons.”

“Besides that, what else are you going to use? Isn’t she your main squeeze?”

“ _Shhh!_ She can hear you!” Travis shushed you as you looked up at him. “I have an updated model. She’s got less resistance and she charges up easier with less kinetic energy.”

“Whatever helps you sleep at night. But… I don’t want to take your first from you.” You said slowly, carefully.

“Oh, I’d have _gladly_ let you have it,” Travis said, his teeth gritted a bit and it puzzled you. What was he talking about? You had no clue.

Travis joined you on his bike as you put Blood Berry on your waist. It felt kind of weird having his weapon on your waist, but you’d take his weapon over a hoodie any day of the week. He started up his bike’s engine as he backed up and out of the parking lot before he drove to the club named _Mystique._ Your hands found their way back to his hips.

The outer shell of the building did not match Santa Destroy’s small and shabby aesthetic at all. It oozed luxury with its pillars out in front of the building that helped to structure it and make it stable. The building itself was comprised of five stories, as it was both a club and a hotel. The sign that let everyone know what the name of the club featured a pink neon silhouette of a woman sitting with a leg up in the air and the name _“Mystique”_ displayed prominently. That wasn’t very telling of the inside, though. You’d have to get there first.

The wind would have blown through your hair, had it not been gelled onto the back of your neck. You weren’t complaining, as the ride was almost over. Travis slowed down as he pulled into _Mystique’s_ back parking lot. You let go of his hips as you got off first, and he followed as he placed his bike keys into his trench coat.

“I doubt without those crazy-ass eyebrows the bouncer won’t recognize you.”

“Oh, yeah?” He grinned like a child as he went to your side.

“We’ll just have to see, now won’t we?” You smirked as the both of you walked to the line that ran almost around part of the building. As you lingered outside of the club, you could practically feel the bass from whatever popular song was going on inside.

“A club having a hotel inside of it is almost asking people if they wanna fuck,” Travis mentioned as he crossed his arms.

“You know, speaking of the inside, I’ve heard there’s a lot of velvet furniture and strippers. Even male strippers. There’s a little something for everybody.”

“I don’t think I’ve seen a single male stripper here. It may be pretty cool to see something different for once in a while.” Your eyebrows furled a little, but not because you were mad, but because you were curious.

“Travis… are you..?” You couldn’t bring yourself to ask.

“Oh, shit, I never brought it up, but I like guys too.”

You paused and let it sink in for a moment. Your partner was bisexual. You weren’t frustrated or disappointed because you were expecting it, truthfully, but you didn’t think he’d just come out and say it to you.

You could hear crickets quietly breaking the silence and you could hear the wind blow as you felt its cold wrath grasp your face.

“I-I’ve never done it with a guy before, but I do find them to be pretty damn attractive.” He said, a bit more confidently.

“I kind of figured it, but I didn’t want to assume because you fussed about your eyebrows and you liked having earrings that you were bisexual. I appreciate you telling me, Travis.” You looked up at him with a slight smile that he matched with an awkward smile and an even more awkward dark pink blush.

“Not every guy who likes to make sure he’s presentable is gay or bisexual, Y/N. I mean, have you _seen_ Pitbull?”

“There is not a god damn person on this planet that would defend Pitbull as ‘presentable’. He’s like the scrawny cousin of Vin Diesel.”

“Now that’s a hunk of a man.” Travis agreed, regaining his quirky smirk as the line shortened and the both of you went up in the line before the bouncer recognized Travis as one of his buddies from high school. 

"Yo, Travis!" The male spoke with a grounded voice, but one that was distinguishable from others mumbling in line. In response, Travis perked up, and looked around before he identified his high school buddy, Fender Smith.

Fender was a vivid character that Travis couldn’t forget, even if he wanted to. With dyed hair as red as the color of blood that was mixed with the pink lights, and that went about as far as his ears, Fender waved mostly with his hand with some excitement fueled aggression. He was fairly young, around Travis’ age, but he wasn’t showing it. He had a sharp face and dark brown eyes that had a fair bit of depth in them. His nose was fairly sharp and free from piercings.

Fender wore a clean, yet bright pink vest over a black button-up shirt that was rolled up to his elbows. He wore a tie that was tucked in and kept in nicely. Alternatively, he wore skinny jeans with a studded belt and a chain that was clipped around a couple of his belt loops. On the left side of his hip, he had a walkie-talkie and an ear-piece in his left ear as well. He wasn’t tall, but more of a moderate height, however, he was skinny and not very beefy. You thought it was odd to employ a bouncer that might not be able to use much force, but then shrugged. You didn’t know what he was capable of, but you were almost curious.

Travis waved back before Fender beckoned him closer and Travis drew near as you followed, offering the red-haired stranger a small smile.

“What are you up to nowadays-” He looked over at you and your cheeks became light pink.

“And who’s this that you’ve brought with you?” He looked you over, up and down. Travis cleared his throat and scratched the back of his neck and the bouncer got the hint. He stopped looking at you.

“She’s my _girlfriend._ ” He said, matter of factly as an even hotter blush poured over your cheeks.

“Well, hello there, Travis’ girlfriend. You’ve got a name, don’t ya?” He asked you.  
“Yeah, and it’s Y/N. What’s yours?” You asked, a little playfully.

“Fender. And it’s nice to meet you, _Y/N: Otherwise Known as Travis Touchdown’s Girlfriend._ ” You couldn’t help it, but you chuckled a little as Fender put his hand out for a handshake. You shook his hand with a strong and confident handshake. 

“That’s got a hell of a ring to it, don’t ya think?” Travis egged on as you nodded a little shyly.

“Yeah- looks like you got a keeper on your hands. Don’t let her stray away from you. Go on in.” He nodded before gesturing to the club’s doors, to the dismay of the lines of people waiting outside, as they all groaned collectively. Travis lead you inside to the interior of the club, and you could barely comprehend it as you blinked a couple of times.

It was pink. And bright. The music vibrated your eardrums and tingled its way to your spine. It was a feeling that left you both delighted and fearful, as the feeling was good, but volume was very loud. The inside of _Mystique_ was nothing less than perfect. There was a mini-stage-setup in the middle of the club that resembled a plus sign, and at every end and the middle of the plus, a strip pole was set, and a stripper, dressed in skimpy and questionable themed costumes, if it could even be called that. 

At the back of the room was a half-circle stage, set with a glazed glittery hot pink piano and a single microphone. Above the stage sat a whole row of lights that could change color at will or whatever color the operator was to choose. You noticed the black bar and the backs of the lights, but because most of the stage wasn’t in use, the bar lights were already off as the curtains in front scurried to close to hide whatever was going on.

Both of the walls were lined with liquor and rose lights that highlighted clear liquor bottles amongst brown and other colored liquids. Bar stools lined the countertops that the bartenders stood at, and aside from the pillars that separated the bar area from the general ‘clubbing’ area. 

The male bartenders wore pink vests that matched Fender’s, except underneath they wore white button-up shirts and a band around their right upper arm with the club’s logo on it as the white button-up remained rolled up at the sleeves. The barmaids who had the job of serving the drinks to the people who weren’t at the bar wore bunny suits that could be defined as sexy, slutty, and very, very questionable. Or all three at once, you figured. The girls were fitted with the sleeveless suits, high thighs, white cuffs, the collared bow, and the characteristic bunny ears.

Behind the pillars existed velvet furniture that was light pink when rubbed up, but when it was rubbed down, it was a darker pink, and was quilted in nature where you were supposed to lay against it.

The club’s beat quieted as the two of you went to the dance floor. But to call it a dance floor would be doing it a disservice. It was more of a dance wave, full of people in costumes. Alternatively, the stage’s mauve curtains opened up as Travis snickered into your ear, “That looks like a _vagina!_ ” You gasped involuntarily, a bit louder than what you expected as you covered your mouth in dismay.

“Travis!” You whined, playfully punching his arm. “There are _other_ people here!”

“Yeah, but look at it. It looks like it. C’mon. You gotta see it.” He looked at you a little excitedly as he waited for you to admit it.

“Okay, fine, you win.” You crossed your arms. “I guess it could potentially look like… well, what you said. I might be more inclined to agree with you if we were drinking some of that adult poison. Would you follow me down the rabbit hole?” You asked, smirking at Travis as you started to walk off to the bar, only to find that it was fully occupied. Instead, however, the sofas weren’t occupied, so you both dusted one-off before sitting down together. 

A black-haired woman came over to you two almost immediately. Her bangs were a left sweep over her face and her eyebrows were dark, almost as dark as her hair, and that caught you a bit off guard.

“Might ‘zere be some...zing to interest you two?” The woman asked, her French accent becoming omnipresent in conversation. That caught Travis completely off guard as he visibly became uncomfortable before he began to fidget with his coat. Normally, he would have just walked right out, but he was here with his date, you, and he wanted to not think of himself for once. He sat there, lingering, not daring to look at her face. He knew who it was before having to take a glance at her. 

He’d known who she was, five years ago. In and out. Up and down. All of her imperfections, internal and external. And to think, here she was, standing in front of him, being the living proof that the world was a bitch.

As Travis was trapped in his mind, the woman stood with her upper body swaying to the right, her left hand on her hip, holding a notepad full of orders as she waited for a response.

“We’ll have two strawberry daiquiris.” You responded kindly as Travis continued to zone out.

“Coming right up!” She smiled a cutesy smile before walking to the end of the bar, near the stage, before popping into a closed door. As soon as she was gone, Travis loosened up.

“...what was that?” You turned to him, concerned as he wiped his sweaty forehead and nearly wiped his brows clean off.

He responded with a sigh before he swallowed the spit in his mouth. “I… may have an ex.”

“Oh. That’s a bit of a… well, something.” You said, coughing on your words a little as he remained silent.

“Wait- are you afraid of her? Did she do something to you?” You asked him, a bit quieter.

“I don’t want to talk about it now. I wouldn’t want to ruin tonight, now would I?” He asked, looking at you as he wiggled his filled-in eyebrows, trying to alter the mood.

“If you say so.” You responded, a bit dryly as the barmaid returned with two strawberry daiquiris in martini glasses. They were made of frozen mix and were complete with a strawberry on the rim, and with a straw in the daiquiri itself. What you didn’t see were the curious flakes and bits of a blue unknown substance in the frozen liquid.

“Here you are!” She responded cheerily in her French accent before handing you a glass, and Travis a glass as well. “These are on ze house! Enjoy!” 

Thinking nothing of it, you used the straw to consume some of the drink. Travis, however, was a little more weary and held his glass as you sucked on the straw, enjoying that strawberry alcohol concoction.

“This is some pretty good stuff, Travis.”

“Oh?” He asked, looking over at you. He didn’t seem too happy, as he’d just been staring at his glass of strawberry frozen alcohol goodness.

“You aren’t having a good time, are you?”

He stayed quiet. Before he could continue, an odd character neared him. Almost completely covered in tattoos from neck to navel, and shoulder to finger, stood a man in a pink rabbit costume that the barmaids wore along with heeled pumps. He had shoulder-length hot pink hair, stylishly defined pink eyebrows, and two literal solid black eyes. It must have been a costume, you considered.

“Hello there, what might your name be?” In the fear of being a dick, and especially so, ‘in front of the lady’, Travis obliged with the question.

“I’m Travis Touchdown.”

“Ah, Travis Touchdown, the ‘passing assassin’. Isaac Pierce.” Isaac gestured for a handshake before he was given one by the man. “What brings you to _Mystique,_ the club I happen to own?” He asked, twirling a lock of his pink hair on his finger.

“I happen to be here with my _date._ ” He said simply, hoping that would scare him off.

“Your date? How faithful are you?” Isaac asked, staring at the muscles that he could see clearly defined under Travis’ sweater. Travis’ uncomfortable feelings were translated into a nervous blush.

“I’d say pretty fuckin’ faithful.” He said, getting a bit sharp with Isaac.

“Even for ten-thousand dollars? I won’t disappoint you.” Isaac purred. Travis internalized his groan.

“I’m not a slut. I have my dignity that I’d like to keep intact… But I _do_ have a twin brother I could give you some info for.”

“Ah… I’m listening.” The pink-haired boy grinned at Travis.

“Are you taking notes?” Travis looked up at him with a trademark smirk as he nodded. “His name is Hugh Janus. You better tell him Travis says hello.”

“I will! Thank you very much!” He winked at Travis before walking off. Travis took this as an opportunity to place his glass of alcohol on the ground so that he wouldn’t be tempted to drink it.

“He’s not going to be very happy with you. I doubt that’s his name.”

“That’s not my problem. And besides, it made me feel better.”

“I guess it’s validated, then.” You shrugged, continuing to sip on the drink before you tasted something bitter in your glass. Without saying a word, you placed your strawberry bitterness onto the ground.

“All I want to know is her name.” You said, stable, as the alcohol gave you a bit of confidence.

“Her name is-”

The stage lights lit up as whoever was supposed to go onstage did as an ensemble cue was played. The club owner, himself, Isaac Pierce, was onstage in his high heels, holding the microphone.

“Hi, and welcome everyone to _Mystique!_ I’m Isaac Pierce, the owner, and I know why all of you are here! Do you?” He asked the excited party crowd. They screamed and howled in response. You two turned on the sofa to see what was going on.

“It’s time for the costume contest! Everyone who’s interested, c’mon, and line up in front of the stage! I give you five minutes to patch yourselves up and meet me here!” He announced to the mic as he put it back on the stand before disappearing back into the curtains… and they closed. Again. The _vagina_ curtains. You wouldn’t see them as anything else now, and it caused you to wonder if Isaac had done it on purpose so that people would talk about his curtains online so that he’d get publicity. He certainly could not be that clever, could he? You dismissed the thought as you stood and stretched.

“Let’s win the prize, shall we?” You beckoned for his hand as he stood up. Instead of tipping his imaginary fedora, he tipped his shades, and did a slight curtsey. 

_"M'lady."_ You nearly gagged on your spit. That was too cute.

He took your hand and you two walked from the bar section into the hellish mosh pit of unknown body odors and sweat until you made it to the stage. There was already some competition lined up as there was a very busty Asian girl in a questionably cut length of a blue cheerleader top and skirt that both had white accents. Her top had read, _“San Romero Knights”_ , and there was another girl in a Belle costume but with a spicy twist. Her classic yellow dress was decorated with faux taco shells full of faux toppings. On top of it all, she had a Taco Bell Mild Sauce patterned clutch. She was meant to be Taco Belle. Travis nudged you to make sure you’d see Taco Belle and you chuckled a bit.

The busty cheerleader turned to you before she smacked on her gum loudly as she tried to determine what your costume was by simply staring at you. While doing so, she played with one of her blonde pigtails in the same manner that a porn actress might. 

“So, uh, what are you supposed to be? A BDSM chick or something?” She asked, uninterested, yet somehow still curious.

“Trinity, from _The Matrix?_ It’s a classic, I saw it in the theaters back in the day.” You said, arms crossed.

“You should know who I’m supposed to be. It’s basically obvious.” She chewed her gum even more obnoxiously.

“A sexy cheerleader?” You didn’t really know, and frankly, you were getting annoyed before Travis stepped in.

“Hey, lady-”

“That’s Crista to you, you _big man._ ” Travis was a little perplexed as the girl's eyelashes fluttered, but he didn’t let it phase him as he stood his ground. 

“I’d appreciate it if you left my girl alone.”

“What are you gonna do about it, _hurt me?_ ” She asked, raising an eyebrow as you stepped back. You’d just have to see how this played out as you watched in the middle of the both of them.

“If it needs to be resolved, you’d better back the fuck up, ‘cause my magic wand is five feet long.”

Crista didn’t know what that meant. 

“You know what? You win. I’m gonna drag your stupid ass on Twitter, and you’re gonna be my bitch.” She growled at him as she pointed her finely manicured nails at him as he just chuckled.

“Try me, bitch.”, is what Travis left her with as she slowly sauntered her way into the crowd and further, out into the club before she left.

“Damn, you really scared her plastic ass off, huh?” You looked up at him.

“She’ll be back. She _definitely_ wants to fuck.”

“What gave that away?”

“The eyelashes. She batted them, and I know what that means.”

“Or maybe, hear me out, just maybe, she has dried out eyes.”

Another musical cue was given before Isaac reappeared on stage, as the bright lights from above weren’t completely out of your vision. He had traded out his bunny ears for a beautiful yet delicate crown made of silver and pink gemstones and a staff that he had put his microphone into. 

The stage lights irritated your eyes as you squinted, glancing out into the crowd of neon and UV reactive costumes, vampires, capes, instances of spandex which were both good and bad, and some odd guy in a spotless suit.

“Hello, hello, hello, guys, gals, and the people of _Mystique!_ I hope you’re all ready for the costume contest to end all costume contests!” Isaac announced excitedly. Aside from the crowd, you had identified that black-haired girl that had bothered Travis earlier, tending to someone on the left half of the bar.

All of the lights went to black, as if the power was intentionally cut off. To add to the freak accident, up ahead, you could hear some sort of ropes crackling, slowly breaking as the weight of whatever that was broken was beginning to fall. As a result of it being pitch-black, you popped your phone out to use its flash as a flashlight. Travis darted off to the left, and you followed in a flood of people along with him as the entire club cried out in mass panic. Someone nudged you, and you dropped your phone off to the side, near to the barmaid from before. You met someone else’s eyes with your own, and then grabbed your own phone. In your adrenaline-fueled frenzy, you sprinted out, as fast as you’d ever run, out to the parking lot to meet up with Travis. As soon as you were safe, you turned off your flash and gave your boyfriend, yes, you could call him that, a tight hug.

As you embraced him, there was a deep cracking heard from the building as whatever it was that was in the process of falling had fallen and caused damage.

Police sirens were heard and seen as police arrived at the scene to investigate, followed subsequently by the Santa Destroy fire department, and an ambulance or two. Not wanting to get caught up in police questioning, the two of you snuck off to the rear parking lot to his bike fairly quickly, jogging off, giggling between each other. Travis got on the bike first and you followed suit, as you hugged him, pressing yourself into his muscular back. With your tight grip, it was almost impossible for you to fall off, and you didn’t. 

“Let’s get back to my place.” You whispered in his ear as he continued to speed off and wind through Santa Destroy’s blocky town roads until he got to your road that was sandy, that happened to be unpaved, and it happened to resemble a winding snake to pass through bits of trees and other lonesome houses.

Travis soon parked at your house. He allowed you to get off first as he put his bike keys in one of his many pockets. You pulled your house keys out of your coat pockets as you walked to the front door and unlocked it. You stepped in, followed by Travis, then you shut the door before the two of you went upstairs to your expansive bedroom. The remote wasn’t visible.

Your bedroom was the master suite of the two-story house. As soon as you walked into the room, your queen bed sat there. To the right of your bed was an opening to a smaller part of your room that offered a view of the property, as well as your desktop Mac computer, notepad, and pen collection. You had two closets too, they were right across from each other and they had no doors. You also had a dresser across from your bed that had your T.V on top of it.

“Look, I’m gonna get this gel business out of my hair with a quick rinse. Feel free to change. I’ll bring you some makeup wipes after I get back.” You told Travis as you stripped out of the heavy coat and kicked off the heeled boots you’d worn. You tossed the items aside before you approached your dresser and dug through it a bit to find a thick and soft pumpkin-colored sweater. You draped it over your non-dominant arm as you dug to find some of your athletic shorts that you knew existed. There was a brown pair in your drawer. You could have sworn you had more… Oh well, you knew who they were going to. You took some underwear with yourself as you passed by Travis to get into your nearby bathroom.

As you showered, Travis changed. He started by tossing his beam katana onto your bed from his thigh holsters, then his heavy coat, and then he took the thigh holsters off before walking over to your dresser to rummage through it just to see if he could find some shorts. Instead he was greeted with grey sweatpants, and he took them before quickly taking his own dark pants off to put on the sweatpants. They were soft on the inside despite the fact that they fit him a little bit above his ankles. He knew because he could feel the breeze from the air conditioning’s vent tickle his cleanly shaven legs. He placed his dark sunglasses on top of your dresser.

As Travis waited for you to exit the shower, he walked over to your computer, and your notepad and curiously flipped through it. Not that he meant to be creepy, he was more curious than anything. There were a couple of blank pages in the front of the notepad, torn paper pieces at the top of the sheet that hadn’t been cleaned out, and he glanced over at your trash can to the left of him. Huh. A couple of crumpled sheets of notebook paper were in the can. He wasn’t going to dig into the trash can like a raccoon.

Travis directed his attention back to the notepad as he flipped through it once more. It was truly blank except for one page that looked to be a list of things to do or to finish. He didn’t get a good look at it before you gave him a fright.

“I knew you’d be curious,” You told him as you wrapped your hair up in a towel, “here’s your wipe.” He almost jumped out of his skin. 

“Shit, you shouldn’t walk up on me like that.”

“You shouldn’t be snooping around, _hmm?_ ” You teased, nearing him, before grabbing the wipe from your shorts’ waistband.

“Yeah… yeah, and I still haven’t learned my lesson.” He turned to face you, a warm blush covering his face.

“I’m not mad. I just wanted to test you. It turns out you’ve failed.” You offered him the wipe and he took it gently and sniffed it before cleaning his eyebrows.

“Cucumber. Good choice. I personally like rose water, but I can’t judge your taste.” 

“Rosewater is okay, I like the scent of cucumber much more.” He threw the now-dirty towelette into the trash.

“So, what do you want to do now?” Travis asked you. 

“Since you’re so good at snooping, see if you can find my remote. I’ll go grab us something.” You assured him before escaping downstairs. Through your living room you went as you walked into the kitchen area. Your height was moderate, however, your cabinets were higher up than moderate. This posed a problem to you, but you had a solution: Get on top of the countertop.

And so you did with a small grunt as you pushed yourself up. The item in question that you were looking for in your cabinet was a pitcher. You’d used it before to help you carry what you called _‘adult Capri Suns’_ that you kept in your freezer. Now, you couldn’t find the damn thing. Had you hidden it from yourself?

Upstairs, Travis had already found the remote and was trying his best to turn on your T.V., and finally, he’d mashed the button so many times that it had finally turned on. He wrapped up his belongings in the coat that he’d put on the bed and put it on the floor beside the bed as he slowly sat down on your queen bed. The covers weren’t tucked as tightly as they would be at a hotel, but they were still nicely tight and were just plain grey.

Aha! You found it hiding in the farthest cabinet from you, at the top of the cabinet that you would have never even considered to look at, to begin with. You retrieved it and shut the door before you slid down off of the countertop. Then, you went to the freezer to retrieve the goods. In the pitcher went four pouches of alcoholic slushies before you shut the door and retraced your steps back to your room. You went around to the left side of the bed before you hopped on.

Travis was flipping channels quickly as you opened the first slushie and handed it over to him. You opened another for yourself after he took it.

“Bottoms up, bitch!” You pressed yours up against his before you drank straight out of the package’s spout. Travis also did. The T.V. was playing some animated show with a family.

It tasted like a strawberry daiquiri.

“I’m really sorry that tonight wasn’t your night, Travis. Shit seems to follow you like you’re a magnet.”

He sighed.

“Yeah, you’re right. But I’m not as troubled as you like to think. I just fucked up in the past and it isn’t going to happen again.”

“If you don’t mind, enlighten me.”

He downed more of his slush. You could see that the packaging was white. Pina colada.

“I went to the Death-Match bar, and I met this smoking hot girl. I bought her drink after drink, trying to impress her until I’d gotten rid of all the money in my pockets. Seeing this, she offered me a ‘well paying’ job.”

“What kind of a job?” You asked as he drank a little more.

“I don’t remember how she put it, but I dubbed it: _‘Assassinate The Drifter’_.”

“Oh?” You followed along as you drank your pouch.

“After I’d killed the guy, she thought then to tell me that I’d been entered in the UAA.”

“The United Assassins Association?”

“Bingo! Wait- how’d you..?”

“When I’m interested in something, I do my best to learn everything I can about it. I tried finding information about the UAA after I learned that you’d been involved in it, but I couldn’t find much.”

“That’s good to know that you’re thorough.” Travis downed the rest of the pouch before he closed it and put it back in the pitcher. He retrieved another.

“But when she told me that I had no way out, that I only could go up in rank, it should have given me a red flag, but I went along with it. The next ranked fight I went to, I killed the tenth-ranked bastard, as I was supposed to. I brought it up to her, and she told me to:” He paused to put on a thick French accent, _“quit your bitching!”_ , Travis drank again. “I had signed up to get money through killing, not to constantly be someone else’s fucking target. But, uh, telling you I didn’t want to be number one would be lying to you. I wanted to be number one.”

You nodded as you continued to follow along.

“There was a twist though. I asked, _‘if I make it to number one, will you do it with me?’_ ”

“And how’d she take that?”

“She was totally into it… into me. She would taunt before every ranked match-- I have no idea how the hell she knew I was about to fight-- but she’d tell me how certain she was that I’d die, or how much trust she had that I wouldn’t die. Always something about some layer of hell, yadda yadda. I know it was all horseshit now.”

“Hmm?” You moved on to your second pouch as you traded an empty pouch for a full one.

“You wanna know what the biggest _‘fuck you’_ out of everything was?”

“Lay it on me.”

“She was _married_ to my **twin** fucking brother. And she still pursued the fuck out of me. Lied to me. Used me. She was a _god damn con artist._ And I didn’t even know.”

“From the sounds of it, she may have also doubled as a fish market.” You retorted, which caused Travis to chuckle.

“That’s one way to put it. She worked at a brothel after the initial fuck up of the UAA.”

You snorted. “What a whore.”

He didn’t dare mention that he’d visited her to indulge himself before she’d disappeared completely.

“Yeah, you’re right. But you gotta have a story too, don’t you?

“I had a boyfriend. But now I have you, _Travis Touchdown: The Boyfriend of Y/N._ ”

You both groaned before Travis spoke up.

“It sounded better when Fender said it.” 

It was at that moment in time that you noticed that the T.V had been turned off, and you’d been sitting in the light from a couple of lamps for a while now. You took the remote and turned on the T.V. The channel was from a local news station covering what had happened at the club.

“It’s absolutely devastating what happened at _Mystique._ Five workers killed, seven injured in this freak accident.” The newsman spoke before they rolled video of the civilians who had gotten to safety, and then some that described what had happened.

“God, fuck, you don’t think?” You looked at him.

“No, with all the shit I’ve been through, luck doesn’t exist.”

The media concerning the survivors was over. They showed photos of the victims. There she was, with a different name.

“ _Trice Slavishly,_ my ass,” Travis grunted.

“Hold the fuck on.” You hopped off of the bed to grab your notepad off of your desk and a pen.

“What’s her real name?” You asked, your words slurring a little.

“Sylvia Christel.” Travis downed the rest of the pouch before he sat there, watching the report continue to roll on the T.V.

You scribbled her name down correctly before returning to the bed with your pouch, notepad, and a pen. You also wrote down what name the doppelganger’s name was. Regardless of what it was, you felt it wasn’t a real name. There was no way that was possible. _Shit like this only happened in the movies. Or, so you thought._

“Let me see that,” Travis mentioned and you handed him the notepad. He stared at it for a bit before you saw a lightbulb go off in his mind.

“Do you know what an anagram is?” He looked at you.

“Nope.”

“I always remembered it as ‘anal’gram,” You shot him a confused glance before you laughed loudly as the alcohol in your body started to have an effect on you. He only looked at you puzzled before he continued, “But it’s where a word or a name is formed from a word or another name, kinda like a code. I did one with my name once. _‘Tovarish Dow Cunt’._ ”

You sighed loudly and finished what was left of your slush. You weren’t really surprised and you weren’t exactly disappointed either.

“Travis, I really like you, and I know you’re upset about her being dead, but… can we put the nonsense away and just kiss?” You asked, and he put the notepad and the empty pitcher down beside the bed. “I know you want to. You’ve been wanting to since this morning… I don’t want to have sex, but I feel good enough to get sloppy with our mouths.”

“I’m not really upset… But sure, we can do that if you want to. Sloppy or extra sloppy?” He wiggled his eyebrows as you turned to fully face him.

“Do what you want.” You told him before you wrapped your arms and legs around him as he pressed you down into the bed while your lips entangled with each other. He pulled back from you as he moved your hair from your face to marvel at you. “I don’t think I could appreciate this moment if it was anyone other than you, _oh._ ” He sighed in bliss as he went in once more. This time he pulled at your sweater to give you what every boyfriend typically gave his girlfriend. It was a trope, and it was finally time for him to tick that box as he sucked a high spot on your neck.

And you didn’t care. You loved the attention and contact.

He moved back up to your mouth and you shared another kiss and some tongue action. In your mouths, your tongues battled for the other one’s affection as you both made closed mouth moans that were muffled. Travis grasped you, and you grasped him in turn. You didn’t know if it was the alcohol or not, but you felt fuzzy and happy, not to mention, you felt warm and giddy and pleasant.

After a few minutes of your mouths making sweet, sweet love, you became tired and you pulled away from him, panting heavily. You got under your bed’s thick comforter and sheet, and as did Travis. You were cold, but you expected the covers to warm you up. They didn’t as you lingered in silence.

“Hey, Travis…”

“What is it?”

“I’m cold… do you mind…?”

“Not at all.” 

You rolled over to your side as Travis rolled over to match you before he pressed himself against you as he spooned you gently. His warm body transferred heat to your colder body.

“Am I too close?”

“No, no. You’re just right. I can feel myself getting warmer.”

“You know, I’ve never opened up to anyone like that before.”

“Then it was good that it was me… We can continue this in the morning. Goodnight, Travis.”

“Goodnight.”

And so, the both of you slept through the night, one of you snoring much louder than the other, and the other tossing and turning more so than the other.

During the night, a brown letter envelope, sealed with a red wax circle, with the image in the stamping being that of one singular eyeball was delivered to your home.


End file.
